Your Summer Hair-Survival Kit

by Alana Peden • Assistant Beauty Editor

Daily defense

Kind of like a makeup primer—but for hair—Bumble and Bumble Hairdressers Invisible Oil Primer ($24; sephora.com) coats your strands, smooths frizzies and protects your style from blow-dryer heat and the sun. If only it also applied sunscreen to the middle of your back.

Easiest root fix

Because sun causes brassiness and fading—plus, warm weather makes hair (and therefore gray roots) grow at an accelerated rate—even salon devotees may find themselves doing at-home hue maintenance with L’Oréal Paris Superior Preference Mousse Absolue ($15; ulta.com). The breakthrough product boasts a delivery system that mixes dye and developer just before dispensing. That cuts down on mess and keeps unmixed ingredients fresh inside the bottle. Also, you can choose to use a little or a lot each time you touch up roots. Available in 16 shades.

Hydrate to protect

Leonor Greyl L’Huile de Leonor Greyl ($57; leonorgreyl-usa.com) can be used two ways: as a pre-shampoo treatment that envelops hair in deeply hydrating nut oils (just massage it on dry locks, wait 10 minutes, then shampoo as usual) and as a beach or poolside treatment that blocks UV rays by forming a protective barrier.

Pro tip: Examine your scalp!

Deborah Sarnoff, MD, president of the Skin Cancer Foundation, reminds us that the scalp is skin, too, and should be thoroughly checked, along with the rest of your body, during your annual skin-cancer exam. Sarnoff speaks from experience: She had a suspicious mole removed from her own scalp after her stylist found it while cutting her hair. She also recommends donning a hat whenever possible; it’s the only surefire way to shield your scalp from UV rays. Pictured: fedora ($365; eugeniakim.com).